The Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) have asked the judges arrested by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) to excuse themselves from judicial functions.

NBA President, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) said this on Thursday at the valedictory session in honour of Justice Sotonye Denton West, Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal.

Mahmoud said the judges should step aside while investigations are ongoing.

He said: “It appears to the NBA that it is extremely important that the NJC takes very urgent steps to safeguard the public image and sanctity of the courts.

“We therefore strongly recommend that, without prejudice to the innocence or otherwise of the judges involved in the ongoing investigations, they should be required to recuse themselves from further judicial functions or required to proceed on compulsory leave until their innocence is fully and completely established or until the conclusion of all judicial or disciplinary proceedings.

“We believe this will be necessary in order to protect the sanctity and integrity of judicial processes that may involve the judges concerned and safeguard the public image of the institution.”

He also said the NBA has setup a Task Force to investigate the allegations and come up with recommendations on how to clean up the judiciary.

Azeez